The present invention relates to a face mask for diving and more particularly to a configuration presented by sections of a skirt as an important part of such a mask which are elastically held in contact with the wearer's face.
In conventional diving face masks, for example, one of them as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3536004, the basic structure comprises a lens frame including a lens retained thereby and the skirt attached to the lens frame. The skirt is of a substantially cylindrical shape partially defining a face-contactable section. The face-contactable section generally has in its distal edge a relatively sharpened cross-sectional shape. This aspect will be more specifically understood from FIG. 5 in the accompanying drawings as showing prior art. FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view showing a cross-sectional shape of the face-contactable section in such a conventional diving face mask. As shown, the face-contactable section 100 is bifurcated into an inward extending sub-section 101 and an outward extending sub-section 102 respectively having relatively sharpened distal edges 103, 104 to be pressed against the wearer's face when the wearer puts the mask on his or her face.
In the case of the conventional diving face mask as has been described above, the distal edges of the respective face-contactable sections being pressed against the wearer's face may often leave a compression mark on the wearer's face. Depending on its degree and/or even if it is merely of a temporary nature, such a compression mark inevitably disfigures the wearer's face and/or may sometimes cause skin disease.